Buried and Dug Up Again
by Hickumu
Summary: Sequel to "Just Wanted to Make Sure". Jin and Touya survived their defeat at the hands of Team Urameshi, and walked away with a lot to think about. Risho and Bakken survived as well, and aren't happy that Jin and Touya got to walk away at all. They finally corner their former teammates alone and far from help. Jin expects an easy victory, but Risho shows no mercy. Things go wrong.
1. A Gun on the Table

Aligning yourself entirely to one element meant opening yourself up to severe weaknesses. It was an unavoidable fact, a weight on the opposite side of the scale to balance all the power a Shinobi might possibly achieve.

Every Shinobi, no matter how powerful, had at least one fate to fear, above and beyond death. And every other Shinobi knew what it was.

It made taking revenge very, very easy, provided that you could make the first move.

When you had a Mist Shinobi on your side, making the first move became eminently easier.

Jin and Touya knew the identity of one of their foes just as soon as Bakken's mist began to creep over them, spreading out through the woods to blur the world around them and any hope of escape. They knew him by scent, Jin knew his mist by feel. Risho was just as blind as they were left, but Bakken could see through his own mist easily. He watched the two of them, just a few short yards away through the trees.

Both had moved to stand back to back in the hopes of preventing the sneak attack they knew had to be coming. He could hear them speaking to one another. And even if they were too far for him to hear precisely what they said, the tone of their voices was clear enough. Touya sounded wary. Jin sounded his usual flippant, careless self.

It didn't matter.

Because Bakken's mist wasn't true wind, it was air mixed with his essence and his energy, and so Jin couldn't just swat it aside without working for it. Even Touya would have a hard time pulling ice out of the air when that air was saturated with Bakken's sweat.

And, through the haze and the fog, neither of them was able to sense Risho at all.

Jin might have just flown away, then, flown away and left Touya to his fate. He might have even just left Touya to deal with Bakken, because Jin had always made it clear just how much he'd disdained the large, scarred man and how much he'd hated even to be near him.

But they'd bonded, wind and ice, after their defeat. They'd found in one another a companion and, it seemed, the beginnings of a friend. Risho had never known Jin to be particularly loyal, but only because he'd demanded Jin's loyalty to himself, to their cause. He hadn't gotten either because Jin hated Risho and by and large couldn't be bothered about matters bigger than himself. Touya hated Risho, as well, but at least had managed a truly devout devotion to the light.

Even that hadn't held up in the end, though. They'd both betrayed him, they'd both sided with the humans that were the reason they were in this mess in the first place. Most importantly, they'd both _failed_.

And so now it was time for their punishment.

Bakken went one way. Risho went the other. Risho zeroed in on Jin's chatter. Bakken closed in on Touya because he was the only one who could see a thing.

Jin heard Bakken coming, as they'd both guessed he would. Bakken saw the Wind Shinobi grin darkly, and lift from the ground a few inches to hover. He started swinging his arms in a seemingly idle gesture that was anything but. He didn't have his usual perfect control in this environment, but he was far from helpless, and with a good wind up he would easily get a Tornado Fist going. "Hey, there, Biggy!" he called jovially, for anything in half a mile to hear. "If you'd wanted to come digging us up, it'd have been decent of ya to say somethin'! Course, I still would've knocked you back a mile either way, big stinkin' bully you are, but at least we could have both saved some time!"

"Jin…" said Touya and, yes, he really did sound afraid now. "Perhaps you should focus less on taunting him, and more on clearing this mist away."

"Nah, come on, Touya! We can have a bit of fun with this, like he had with your fox! If me an' you can get him to stumble over nice and near, I sure as all hell won't miss! And one good shot where it hurts is all it takes, for someone like him!"

All the same, he was starting to whirl his arms in a circle. A breeze was beginning to blow.

But even Jin had to concentrate. And when Risho, finally drawing near, finally heard and felt his chance, he didn't miss, either. When Jin felt the restraints of clay and earth snap shut around his legs, halting his ascent, and looked down to see himself trapped, his concentration snapped like a twig with his squawk of alarm.

The mist closed in.

"Jin?!" Touya cried, whirling around. They were still near enough to one another that he could make out Jin's silouhette, including the manacles of clay that had more or less sealed him to the ground, and were already drawing him down again despite Jin's increasingly panicked attempts to kick and strike himself free. "Hold on!" he cried, moving in, mustering up his focus to summon up a sword of ice on his arm.

Jin's head snapped around to stare over Touya's shoulder. His eyes went wide with shock and, for the first time that Touya had ever known him, something like fear. "Don't you go layin' yer mitts on him!" he snarled, throwing a punch. Touya staggered back, surprised and even more alarmed, but he needn't have worried at all. The attempt went completely wild, couldn't even reach Jin' true target with how tightly bound he was, and without any proper twist behind it the blow probably wouldn't have bothered their attacker in the slightest.

And Touya realized who the attack had been meant for much too late to stop the two large, scarred, powerful hands closing around his throat from behind and _squeezing_.

* * *

_When I talked about maybe writing a sequel to "Just Wanted to Make Sure", this was not the fic I had in mind! I had a completely different idea for the second fic, but I got sick about a week after I finished up with JWtMS, and as often happens, I had some freaky dreams. One of those dreams set the stage for the first half of this fic._

_I've also always been curious about the powers of the Shinobi in YuYu Hakusho, and the extent to which they go. How much, in other words, is a Shinobi their element? So this fic is also something of me playing around with some ideas that might come with devoting yourself entirely to an element, and some of the weaknesses that might go along with it._

Therefore, the first half of this was actually quite easy to write. The second half proved a lot less so, probably because as with JWtMS, I found myself on completely unfamiliar ground trying to parse an in-character reaction out of characters in completely unfamiliar circumstances.

I like to think I did a halfway decent job of it but, of course, you will have to be the judge. 


	2. Payback

Mist that stank of sweat? The very earth rising up from its bed to attack him? Jin wasn't stupid, no matter what his enemies like to insist, and it didn't take a tactical genius to know who their enemies were now. However, his biggest concern right now was Bakken, little more than a giant silhouette in the mist, tall enough to have lifted Touya clear off the ground as he throttled Jin's friend.

Unfortunately, Risho knew his stuff, and he knew Jin and Touya. He knew that, for all of Jin's power, he needed motion to achieve it – the rise, the fall, the wind up, and the release of power. Without that motion he was fragile, practically helpless. And while he was making good headway breaking through his restraints, through a good six inches of solid rock, he already had the sense that it was hopeless when Risho reinforced his bonds with a wave of his hand.

"Perhaps they should have let me face Yusuke Urameshi," Risho mused aloud. This let Jin know where he was standing – very nearby, much too nearby – but he might as well have been miles off. "If he fell to you, when you can't even break through a bit of rock, I probably didn't even have to bother getting him disqualified."

Jin hated the sound of Risho's voice, hated the demon, wanted nothing more than to beat him bloody, fly him up to a great height and drop him, but he was losing feeling in his legs. And even Risho's taunting couldn't tear his gaze away from the sight of Bakken's shadowy form and Touya's weakening struggles.

Until Jin freed himself, he couldn't do anything to save Touya, and until Jin got at Risho and gave him a good punch to the face, his chances of getting free weren't all that great.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try. Growling with the effort, because even the very air had been twisted against him, Jin started to whirl his arms in a circle. He could feel the spirit energy leeching out of him, more than he'd like, but it did the job. The oppressive stink that was Bakken started to receive, the air started to blow…

…right up until the earth surged up to his left and clamped down tight on one arm. Jin recovered his senses enough to try and keep his other arm out of the way, drawing it in tight against his body, swiping it from side to side to try and bat the dirt away. But he forgot, in the heat of the moment, that the earth had a master. Suddenly, Risho was there, clad in his Armor of Clay, and both hands grabbed Jin's arm and held it tight so he could be completely trapped.

"Or perhaps it really was just your fault," Risho continued, in a voice alight with malice. "You never pay _attention_, Jin. You're just another idiot, that happens to be hard to catch."

The blow to the face left him seeing stars from the ground.

"Now that I've finally caught you, I think I should make certain that you don't forget your failures. You and Touya both."

A great many people underestimated Touya. After all, how useful was it to have power over ice, rather than something like earth or wind or fire?

Ice, however, could be surprisingly versatile. Especially when pulled out of the air, and especially when you were desperate.

"Maybe I didn't get the chance to prove myself against Urameshi. But at least I was _loyal_, Touya. You know what the punishment for disloyalty is. I guess you'd know better than anyone, wouldn't you?"

As Touya's vision started to fade around the edges, as Bakken's voice and his mocking words grew indistinct and faint, he managed to muster up the last of his strength for one last desperate effort. He didn't even know that Risho had joined the attack, but even if he had, Risho's efforts were entirely focused on Jin. So the ground rumbled beneath their feet, giving Bakken his only warning before a large spike of ice shot out of the ground, its sharp point at just the right angle to spear the big man through the stomach.

It didn't, because the world was not a nice place. Bakken was quick enough to leap back without having his innards spilled on the ground. At the least, he dropped Touya in the bargain. "You little _rat!_"

Touya landed on all fours, gasping and coughing and shaking with shock, fear, and adrenaline. But he surged back to his feet, turning in a circle to scan the area through the mist.

"Jin!"

Even in silhouette, it was easy to see what was happening. He saw that what was happening was that Jin was sealed up tight in a virtual coffin of clay, all his limbs bound. And a tall, spiky figure that he could only take to be Risho was making sure that Jin couldn't focus long enough to make any kind of effort in his own defense, if he was even still capable of that. The blows, the heavy, spiked blows, rained down on the helpless Wind Master made Touya's body hurt in sympathy, even yards away.

"Risho!" Touya yelled, his voice ragged and hoarse. But the Earth Master paused in torturing Jin, and Touya thought he even saw their former master look up at him. "Stop it! Why don't you try fighting someone who can fight back?"

Not that Touya had any delusions about being able to take on both Risho and Bakken at once. That didn't mean he wouldn't try. Jin wasn't moving. Kuwabara had defeated Risho after having endured against the entirety of team Ichigaki. Touya, who was at least able to stand without sacrificing his own spirit energy, thought he might at least be able to put up a good fight.

Risho said nothing. He didn't even move. And then Touya realized that Risho wasn't even looking at him – he was looking right over Touya's shoulder. Just like Jin had.

The mist and the fear were both throwing off all his senses and dampening all his powers. That was why Touya fell for the exact same trick twice.

Or, not quite the same trick. He heard Bakken's feet pounding across the ground as he took his run up, and he whirled around in time to meet him. But Bakken was twice Touya's size, and he came at him like a charging bull.

Touya dimly heard Jin shouting, swearing, as he dodged and blocked punch after kick after punch. He let himself feel relief – at least Jin was still alive. What he didn't realize was that Jin was shouting at him to look out. The spiked gauntlet of Risho's Armor of Clay caught Touya on the side of the head. A kick from boots as hard as steel caught him from the other side as he staggered, dazed. He felt something crack, heard someone cry out. And then Touya realized that it was him, and that Risho had caught the damage he'd done to Touya near the end of their fight with Yusuke's team. The damaged had nearly healed, there was really only bruising left…but it hadn't healed entirely, and the savage kick brought it back in spades.

Bakken shoved him down onto the ground before Touya could see past the pain. The next thing Touya knew was a heavy weight, pinning him down, feeling his arms wrenched away from his body and held against the ground in a grip of iron. These blurred sensations slowly resolved themselves into Bakken's knees digging into his back, and Bakken's hands with a tight grip on his wrists. The stink of the big man was overwhelming and awful to the point of nausea.

"I guess you do still have some fire in you, Touya," said Bakken, sounding wonderfully out of breath. "Just a pity you couldn't pull it out earlier – maybe Gamma's murderer wouldn't have walked away."

It was a verbal blow as effective as a knife between the ribs, for Touya. He saw a vision of Gamma's little grave – just a little sign stuck in the dirt, to mark that a body had been placed there. He'd dragged Gamma there and buried him all by himself, alone. Bakken had no right to even say Gamma's _name_…but, then, Touya had failed in his oath to make Gamma's sacrifice mean something. Had even come to see Gamma's killer as a…_good_ person.

Right there and then, Touya would have happily, cheerfully,_ smilingly_ carved Bakken's heart from his chest. The fact that he couldn't, the fact that all his struggles were in vain and his mind was too full of _rage_ to use his powers, made him let out a wild yell of frustration. Bakken laughed, and pushed him harder into the dirt.

"Get off him don't touch him I'll beat your brains out through your ears turn your guts inside out if you don't shut your big empty mouth about him you just watched him get all cut up and die like we all did…"

Jin was so angry that all his words, all his curses and dark promises of vengeance, ran together in one long near unintelligible string of rage. But he might as well have been screaming into the abyss, for all the good it did or all the notice their attackers took.

"I suppose you'll never understand, if this doesn't get through to you," said Risho, standing over Touya and staring down at him dispassionately. "It's never about honor. It's about victory. It doesn't matter who or what the target is. The task of a Shinobi is to make use of the most effective methods to complete the job, to our employer's satisfaction."

Jin's almost bestial growling from behind Risho's back went entirely unnoticed, even if Touya had never before dreamed that Jin could be made utterly speechless with anger, or that he might feel such anger on his behalf. Touya could feel Jin's spirit energy pouring out of him, uncontrolled and wild. "He's better 'n you!" the Wind Master snarled. "Both of ya, big stinkin' slimy empty headed bullies that you are! He shoulda led this whole thing! Probably wouldn't be gettin' tossed out of here on our ears if he'd been the boss!"

It was a touching sentiment, even now, especially now. It made Touya's heart break to hear, because Jin was wrong. They'd been doomed from the start. They'd been doomed from the moment fate had put Team Urameshi in their path.

But even if the light had been denied them, he wouldn't let his friend see him falter. Jin, bruised and bleeding, was still defiant. Touya would do him the honor of standing with him, no matter how much his body broke.

"And who employed you to do this?!" he demanded, over the growing scream of the wind. As it began to blow the mist into ragged shreds, he got a good look at Risho's face, and saw the smile of vicious triumph there. It made him feel sick to see. A smile like that never boded well, especially when the targets were so utterly helpless.

"Well, there's nothing in the code that says we can't take our own personal satisfaction, every once in a while. All the same, I think Butajiri would have been pleased with us, for this."

"Then just think how happy he would have been for what we have in store for them next," Bakken rumbled, the satisfaction practically dripping from his voice. "Just think how well he would have paid us. We're not going to get _paid_, Touya. And it's all your fault."

"And most unfortunately, you've shown us the perfect way to make you pay for that," said Risho. Touya didn't even need to look up at him to know that he was smiling.

The earth began to rumble and shake.

Jin let out a cry of shock, a cry of fear. He began to yell, and then he began to scream.

And then Touya looked up, his eyes wide, his heart hammering, every nerve alight and every muscle straining reflexively against Bakken's grip. The sight that met his eyes, however, made him freeze in horror.

Jin, every limb imprisoned in rock hard earth, was being drawn down into the dirt. It rumbled and roiled around him like water, like quicksand, sucking him in.

He was being buried alive, right before Touya's eyes, and even all the panic and desperation and fear that Touya felt in those agonizing few seconds was nothing compared to the terror on Jin's face as he struggled and failed to escape his fate.

Touya was a proud being by nature. He wasn't that proud. He'd already lost one dear friend in their ultimately futile struggle for the light. To lose another, just after finding him…later on, Touya wouldn't even be able to recall everything he promised Risho, all the ways he _begged_, in an attempt to save Jin.

It was all in vain. Risho didn't even acknowledge his desperation. He was too busy watching Jin lose. And the sight of Jin's mop of bright red hair disappearing beneath the soil would haunt Touya's nightmares for years.


	3. Flicker

He'd been straining against his restraints with every ounce of his strength, so that when Bakken finally released him, he surged to his feet only to stumble and fall. But Touya scrambled back up, his gaze fixed straight ahead to where the ground hadn't yet settled.

"If I know Jin, he gathered some air around himself before he was buried entirely." Risho's voice sounded very far away, and yet Touya could feel the Earth Master's presence barely a foot behind him. Touya was desperate, and afraid, but some habits just couldn't fail. Almost absentmindedly, that part of his mind feeling detached from the rest, he focused, and the ground grew icy around and behind him, little spikes jutting up from the ice to make it harder to approach him. He heard Risho smirk, but he also heard him step back. "How impolite," he said mildly. "I only wanted to lift your spirits a bit. He might live…for a few more minutes."

Touya fell to his knees and started to dig. Jin's last efforts at marshalling the wind had dispelled Bakken's mist, more or less, enough that he could use his own powers again despite being angry, and scared. With a thought, with all of his thoughts focused on the task at hand, he pulled ice out of the air and formed it around his fingers into ten little shovels, hoes, and spades. All for the sole purpose of digging, and digging _quickly_.

He caught a glimpse of red hair before Bakken grabbed him by the hair and threw him. Touya landed on the ground yards away and slid another few feet. However, he was on his feet in a bound, alert for another attack, before he realized it had only been a diversion. The dirt was moving back into place.

"I would hurry, Touya, if I were you."

Touya almost snarled at them both. He was being taunted, baited, he knew, but that didn't matter. They were just trying to keep him away from Jin, maybe even distract him enough that he forgot where to dig. Risho was breaking up and burying the ice he'd left covering the ground. Touya had no doubt that they wouldn't just let him peacefully dig Jin free. He'd have to fight them off.

He didn't have time to fight them off.

It was hopeless. Touya thought the thought with crystal clarity, and yet…to not try, to let Jin die…was unthinkable. He could still feel Jin's Spirit Energy, faint and fading but there. To just give up, to wait and feel it die, it would be just like helping them kill him.

Touya summoned two swords of ice on his arms. The rage, the utter, complete hate, that had at first hampered his powers, seemed to be fueling him now. It had crystallized like a glacier, placid and unstoppable.

Almost effortlessly, he reached out a hand and focused his powers on the spot where Jin was trapped. With a rumbling to match Risho's, a spike of ice jutted up out of the ground, tall and sturdy. It would be a lasting mark to Jin's prison and, if Touya failed, his grave. And maybe it would keep Jin fighting, too. It would tell him that Touya was still here for him.

Touya charged – a silent, grim last stand. Bakken tried to intercept him, his huge fists clenched for another blow. Touya caught the first attack on one arm, with barely a crack in the ice, and pivoted to bring the other one around and _forward_. He moved just a bit too quickly, just a bit too subtly, for Bakken to dodge this time. The blade pierced flesh, and his former teammate's blood spattered against Touya's face.

Risho appeared behind him. Touya turned just in time to get a spiked gauntlet to the face. He staggered, tasting blood, and then came back with an attack of his own. Like Risho, he turned his ice into armor. A feint to the face masked a shot to the ribs, the very spot where Touya still carried a bruise. He ducked another blow from Bakken, turning what would have been a stunning attack into one that merely grazed him.

Risho and Bakken kept up a two front war, trusting that Touya couldn't exert himself like this forever. Unfortunately, they were right. Touya fought them both on equal footing with his newfound power, for the first time in his life, but equal footing wasn't enough. Whenever he tried to break away, they made him pay for it. He brought out tricks and techniques he had only sometimes contemplated or never dreamed of, he fought on a whim, but nothing was enough.

And, in the back of his mind, he felt the spark that was Jin's life flicker…and die.

The shock of it gave Risho an opening, slamming his gauntlet into Touya's chest, and breaking the ribs he'd merely cracked back at the arena. Bakken followed it up with a blow to the back of the head, stomping Touya's legs out from under him at the same moment. Touya fell to his knees, coughing up blood, and Bakken took advantage of the chance to hold him there again. Touya tried to freeze him in ice right then and there, but even now, he wasn't strong enough. Summoning an ice cold enough to overcome the warmth of life? No, he was years away from that sort of power.

It didn't matter anymore. Touya struggled and fought, casting his senses around the clearing for any sign of Jin…then, when he felt nothing, he went limp.

"That was impressive, Touya." There was the sound of cracking, rumbling earth, and then Touya felt the edge of a clay blade moved under his chin. He made no move to stop it. "If I had known earlier that this was what it took to bring out your true potential, I might have silenced Jin earlier."

He couldn't even find it in himself to be angry at Risho anymore. What was left of Touya's emotions were consumed with hating himself.

"A shame it's too late for that, now. Oh, well."


	4. Boost

_Because this seems to be becoming a thing for this story, have a longer chapter today!_

* * *

And then, in the end, at the end of everything…it was _Bakken_ who saved Touya. He saved him by calling out a warning to Risho, but that warning diverted Risho's attention for just a second.

Just the second it took for the blast of energy and light to shoot forth from the trees and strike Risho full force in the chest.

Touya knew that blast of light. And he knew the voices that came after it, especially the one full of righteous anger, calling out to his attackers: "You leave him alone!"

Yusuke Urameshi, Kurama, Hiei, Rinku, and Chu all came running, all crashed into the stunned Risho and the terrified Bakken like a wave of wroth. The only reason Kuwabara didn't join them was that he came to Touya's side instead, heaving him to his feet, babbling apologies and asking if he was okay and although Touya could have laughed and cried all at once at this blessed turn of fortune, absolutely none of it mattered.

"Kuwabara!" He tried to hold on to the human, needing the support in the aftermath of everything. But his arms were still encased in ice, turned to blades, and in the end Kuwabara grabbed hold of Touya's shoulders instead to stop him pitching forward.

Touya stared up at Kuwabara through fading, blurring vision, willing him to see, to understand, to _listen_ and to _help_ as he had once helped them before. "Kuwabara, listen to me! It's Jin! Risho, he's…he's buried him! I tried to stop it, but I can't feel him anymore! Kuwabara, _help me!_"

"Say what?!" Kuwabara looked up, looked around. Then, wearing an expression of fierce determination, he yelled: "Urameshi! Leave 'em! They've got Jin buried alive somewhere around here – we've gotta dig him out!"

"You son of a bitch!" Yusuke punctuated the words with a blow. Touya couldn't see to whom. He didn't even think to look. It was as though he'd finally exhausted all his energy, to the point that even moving was too much. "All right…" A pause, and then: "Guess there's only one option here. Sorry, Jin, you can pay me back later! _Everyone clear out!_"

The order was given at the top of Yusuke's lungs. Touya didn't see what anyone else did, he probably wouldn't even have thought to move aside in time on his own. But he wasn't on his own, and Kuwabara half carried, half dragged him away as Yusuke charged up.

_"Spirit Gun!"_

Yusuke put everything he had into the blast. Jin and Touya might have been demons, but they were decent, and no one deserved that.

It hit the ground and kept going, sending dirt flying everywhere, filling his vision with the familiar cold blue light and filling his ears with the crash and crack of power and collision. If Yusuke hadn't flung himself upward at the same moment that he'd fired, he wasn't sure he would have stayed conscious through it.

But he did. And as his senses returned, the first thing he did was look around, and he saw that everyone else had even if they weren't too happy about it and even if, in two cases, they didn't deserve to. A quick glance around was also enough to confirm that they were now all scattered around quite a respectably sized crater.

And at the center of that crater, the very deepest part, was Jin. He was free of his bonds, free of the tomb Risho had made for him, but he wasn't moving at all.

"Damn it!"

Kurama and Hiei were sensible, tactical beings, and that was why the first thing they did upon regaining their feet was go after Risho and Bakken to make sure they didn't. Rinku and Chu followed their lead, because at this point, overkill was much too merciful.

Yusuke, however, immediately started stumbling and running down to see what, if anything, could be done. Across the crater, he saw Kuwabara doing the same, and the almighty mess that was Touya limping and tripping after him.

"Jin! Hey, Jin!" He grabbed Jin by the shoulders, picked him up and shook him, but it was like shaking a sack of flour for all the response he got. Jin's eyes were open, but there was nothing there – no sign of recognition, no movement, no _life_. And he really wasn't moving. Not even to breathe. "_No_, damn it! I'm not letting you die on me like this!" Feeling his nerves fraying at the seams, needing so very much to do something and seeing no way to make this right, Yusuke hauled off and punched Jin across the face. "Not until we've had our rematch! You're the only one who's been any _fun! _Damn it, Jin, wake the hell up!"

"Urameshi! Wait!" Kuwabara stumbled to a stop next to Yusuke, grabbing his arm to stop him hitting Jin all over again.

"Go to hell, Kuwabara!" Yusuke snapped at him, trying to tug his arm free. But Kuwabara held firm, as much as he could, long enough to cry out:

"Wait! Just wait a minute! I think there's something we can do!"

This got Yusuke's attention, if only through sheer surprise and disbelief. Kuwabara obliged him by giving the fastest explanation Yusuke had ever heard given for anything. "Life Energy! Jin's a wind guy, right? So as long as he had energy, he probably wasn't gonna suffocate! What if it wasn't the burying that got him? What if…"

"He needs a boost." Yusuke understood, then. It was something that they both had experience with…and something they both knew how to maybe, just maybe fix.

He just hoped they weren't too late.

Kuwabara started, laying his hand on Jin's chest and funneling some of his own life energy into the demon's body. Yusuke swatted his hand aside and took over before the idiot could kill himself in the bargain, before proceeding to mimic Kuwabara and give some of his own life as well. It was a dizzying, draining process that left his vision black at the edges and his body swaying and his heart skipping, a feeling uncomfortably recognizable as _dying_, but he felt it happen, and he knew it had worked.

And then Touya was there, already exhausted and drained, already unsteady on his feet and panting for breath. But when he knelt down beside them, took hold of one of Jin's hands, and closed his eyes like he was praying, neither of them made any move to stop him until it was a matter of life and death.

Then, Kuwabara pulled him away, just in time for Jin to take one great, shuddering breath, before rolling onto his side and surrendering to a ragged coughing fit to free the dirt from his throat.

Yusuke felt like his face would break from smiling when Jin opened his eyes and stared dazedly around. And then he heard a sound that no one alive in any world had ever heard.

He heard Touya laughing.

The Ice Master, melting ice dripping from his hair and his clothes, was laughing in relief and happiness. It was a startling sight, and a marked change from the last few moments, and what Yusuke could remember of him from the fight. Even so, Yusuke wasn't at all surprised when Touya's voice grew weaker, and trailed off, and his eyes slid shut and he went limp in Kuwabara's arms.

Everyone hit the wall eventually. And Touya, by the look of him, had been thrown into it. Repeatedly.

Jin, however, clearly hadn't been expecting to be greeted with the sight of his old teammate losing consciousness. With remarkable speed for someone that had been technically dead only seconds ago, eyes wide with a real and true fear that was genuinely uncomfortable to Yusuke to see in the normally exuberant demon, Jin sprang to his feet and made a leap. All in a rush, he took Kuwabara sufficiently by surprise to pull Touya out of Kuwabara's arms and into his own.

"Touya, h-hey! Hey, what'd they go and do to ya? Wake up, come on, wake up and start talkin'!"

"Woah, there, Jin, easy does…" Yusuke began, starting forward and taking ahold of Jin's arm.

He knew they'd done their job well when Jin's response was to spin on the spot, bringing up his leg in a roundhouse kick to Yusuke's stomach that left him on his back, five feet away, and quite winded.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled. "Jin, hey, come on! We're on your side, remember?"

Kurama came over to offer Yusuke a hand up. Yusuke took it, and saw the look on Kurama's face.

"Okay, I know," he said, over the sound of the clamor five feet away. "That was stupid. Live and learn."

Kurama smiled softly and managed to assist Yusuke back to his feet. "Under ordinary circumstances, I'm sure it wouldn't have mattered very much. However, after undergoing an experience of great trauma, well…some merely need space."

"I would imagine that Jin of all beings is used to having a lot of it," remarked Hiei idly, from where he was sitting on an unconscious Bakken's back and watching the proceedings with an air of disinterest.

It took a second for Yusuke to realize that Hiei wasn't just making a smart remark. Specifically, it took Kuwabara's cry of "Hey, Jin! Where are you goin'?"

At that, Yusuke looked about sharply, to see that the situation had taken a marked turn in the few seconds since he'd been knocked on his back. Specifically, Kuwabara was carrying Touya again, and Jin was a good ten feet in the air and still ascending.

"Dammit, Jin, get your ass back down here!" Yusuke yelled, indignant and, yes, worried for the demon. It was a stroke of pure, stupid luck that they'd been able to find him and revitalize him in time. Risho and Bakken might have been out of commission, but the way Jin was now, Yusuke had no doubt that a poke with a feather could take him out, especially if it came from some of the other toughs on the island. It was easy to tell that he still wasn't right, just by the way he flew. This wasn't a free flight – this was Jin being _careful_, and that scared him more than anything so far during this whole crazy damn day.

Jin heard him. He paused, already well above the tops of the trees, and looked down at Yusuke. At that distance, Yusuke couldn't be sure of what he was seeing there.

"What about Touya?" Kuwabara yelled. "Are you just gonna leave him here?"

Jin looked down at him, and after a few seconds of what even Yusuke knew was hesitation, the demon nodded without a word. But then, to Yusuke's surprise, Jin descended again with a swoop that left him right next to Kuwabara, close enough to murmur something in his ear.

Yusuke hadn't known that Jin could be that quiet. All the same, he started forward then when he saw Jin descending, aiming to catch ahold of him and keep him here this time. Kurama, however, got there first, laying a hand heavily on Yusuke's shoulder. That brought Yusuke up short, and he made a face.

Right. No touching. Give the guy some space. Yusuke couldn't even fault him for needing quite that much space, even if he didn't like it. It wasn't like Yusuke hadn't sometimes felt that an entire city wasn't enough room between him and Mr. Akachi.

Jin was there for just a second, and then he was ascending again, a little faster and more direct than he had taken off before. Yusuke watched him go, feeling frustrated and angry on both their behalf's, and helpless to do anything.

"Yusuke." He looked around at the sound of Hiei's voice. The small demon hadn't budged from his perch, despite the fact that his perch seemed to be stirring. "Shall we kill them before they cause any more trouble for us? I don't know about you fools, but with the finals coming up, I'd like to keep wayward wanderings to a minimum."

"I gotta say, I'm with your friend here," added Rinku. "These guys can hold a real grudge. If they don't try to get at Jin and Touya again, they'll probably bug us instead."

"And I'd say we've pretty well proven that they ain't gonna fight fair," finished Chu. But he nodded at them all in turn, Hiei to Kurama to Yusuke and, finally, to Kuwabara. It was there that his gaze lingered. "But, since Jin's prob'bly well out of it by now, guess it's only fair that we leave it to you and Urameshi to sort. What d'you wanna do with 'em?"

Yusuke looked over at Kuwabara, to find Kuwabara staring back at him in something like alarm. Yusuke could sympathize – how had they suddenly wound up speaking for their former foes, as to the fate of some of their other former foes?

Especially since Yusuke could see only one answer to give. It might not have been an answer that was fair to Jin and Touya, but the Shinobi idea of "fair" was, to his mind, messed up beyond all reason anyway. Jin and Touya were just messed up in their own unique ways.

That didn't mean he wanted them to get hit like that again – quite the opposite. And, if the way Kuwabara was quite that visibly protective of Touya was any indication, he felt just the same.

Yusuke turned back to Chu and Rinku, and gave his decision.


	5. Helping Hand

Jin hated feeling this way, feeling so…beaten down. Feeling _beaten_, that was one thing, that was sometimes one of the most satisfying feelings in the world if only for being so very uncommon. But this wasn't like that. Right now, Jin just felt beaten down and drained and shaken and, deep down, still instinctively, inescapably _scared_.

They had all seen it, even if they hadn't said anything. Jin hated that, too. He didn't need to be pitied, or babied, or taken care of. He'd heal, like he always did. He just needed to be…away, for a bit. Away, and free, and untouchable.

He hurt, every inch of him, from Risho's brutal beating and his own wild, ineffectual thrashings down in the dark. But Touya, by the look of him, Jin was amazed that Touya was still alive. No wonder he'd passed out in the end. The sight of him, though, the sight of him just pitching forward all boneless like that, it had been quite a scary sight to wake up to, and Jin still couldn't think of that moment without remembering that fresh wave of fear coming right out of death.

Yes, he'd first sought Touya out again after their battle out of concern, and a desire to make sure that he didn't get the stuffing knocked out of him and, yes, a desire to maybe take up with the only surviving member of Team Masho that hadn't been absolutely awful and nasty.

Besides, Jin had no problems with talking to himself in the absence of anyone else, but it was nice to have someone around that might at least try and understand or listen to what you were saying. Touya had seemed that sort – maybe not as enthusiastic about it as Urameshi, but Urameshi was a once in a lifetime sort of guy. And it wasn't even that Touya was weak. He wasn't strong like Jin or Yusuke was, but it was a strength all the same, and all the more fascinating for being so different.

All in all, he'd expected Touya to provide some pleasant company for the remainder of the Tournament. Less enjoyable than, say, Chu, but at least familiar, and decent enough. And besides, he'd felt he owed him for not being as awful as Risho.

He hadn't expected to feel his heart stop at the sight of Touya kicking and struggling as the life was throttled out of him. He hadn't expected to swear loyalty to him like that against their enemies, and mean it. Most of all, he hadn't expected Touya to fight so hard for him, when Jin was already well out of reach.

Suddenly, at some point over the last few days, at some point over the last _hour_, he'd started to think of Touya as a friend. Or maybe Touya had started to think of Jin as a friend first, and Jin had just followed suit because he liked the feel of it. Either way, it had been a long time since he'd come away _caring_ so much about a being, and he didn't know what to do about that.

Ordinarily, of course, on any day but this, Jin would have embraced the feeling and gone at it all-in, would have celebrated at finally finding someone he could put his heart into, but today was not an ordinary day. Especially not when the object of his affections had managed to prove himself infinitely, leaps and bounds stronger than Jin without ever laying a finger on him, except to try and dig him out.

And when Jin, in turn, had proven himself so weak that he could only give words in his friend's support. Words meant with all his heart, yes, but only words. Even his power over the wind had left him, in the end, when he'd given his last bit of Life Energy for a last gulp of air.

It wasn't even that Touya was stronger that was the problem. It was that Risho and Bakken had proven themselves stronger than Jin and Touya, and that only Touya had made them work for it.

Jin didn't mind being beaten by a worthy opponent, but Risho and Bakken were anything but. He'd been looking forward to the chance to put them in their place and, instead, they'd rendered him more utterly helpless than he could ever remember being.

Jin had no problem with weakness, even if he preferred the company of the strong. Unless that weakness was his own.

Until Touya was back on his feet, best he be left in the care of someone who could actually watch out for him. Jin knew that Kuwabara could, and would. He was sweet on Touya, and the feeling had actually seemed to be a bit mutual the last time Jin had seen them together. More than that, he'd shown Risho what for when they'd last met, and he'd done so while in a worse state than either Jin or Touya was now.

From there…well, there was no way to tell. Maybe the best thing for both of them was for Jin to keep to himself from now on.

He didn't like the thought of that, but Jin was a practical sort of being. Most never knew it to look at him, or listen to him, but the sheer relentlessness of the difficulty he could cause his foes was proof enough. If they'd make harder targets apart than together, and if Touya had someone else who'd keep him from getting mauled again, maybe that was best.

Alone and away and untouchable, with the sound of the sea murmuring in his ears as he lay on his back on the clifftop, Jin stared up at the sky, and tried to stave off sleep.

* * *

It was a pleasant sort of feeling that first roused Touya from unconsciousness.

All the same, the second he was able, all his senses went to work reporting with what information they could gather. All except his eyes – he kept them shut, and kept his body still, feigning senselessness for a few seconds longer while he gathered his wits. His mind was a murky mess, memories mixed together in an uncertain order, and he wasn't quite sure yet what had really happened, and what had just been a nightmare.

So the quick survey of his environment was as much to ground Touya as anything else.

Sheets beneath his hands, pillow under his head. Substance under his back too soft to be the floor. Therefore, he was almost certainly on a bed. A faint but noticeable heat on one side of his face, coming from the left. Probably a window with the blinds open, and the sun coming through it. A breeze stirred the air, faint, but noticeable. Open window. Possible escape route.

One presence by the bed, unfamiliar and silent. When he stretched his senses a little further, he felt their Spirit Energy, and realized that they were responsible for the pleasant feeling that had first roused him. Then he realized that it was the feeling of recovery – his wounds were being healed. The shock of the revelation nearly made him open his eyes and betray himself, but Touya caught himself just in time, and made himself move on.

Voices to the left and in front of him. Familiar voices – Kurama and Kuwabara. A memory floated back to him, then, out of the muddled haze of his thoughts. Hadn't Kuwabara asked him when they'd first met if he'd had "magic healing powers"? There was a familiarity to the unknown individual's Spirit Energy, something similar to his own. Was this another ice demon, the one Kuwabara had used as an attempted point of comparison?

Either way, Touya finally decided that he was probably as far out of danger as it was possible to be, for the moment. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the face of a girl, standing by his bed. She, at least, had clearly been fooled – at the sight of him opening his eyes and sitting up, she let out a squeak and stepped back a few paces.

"Oh my goodness!" But then, apparently rallying her courage, she drew nearer again. "You're awake. Um…are you okay?"

"He's _what_?" came a cry from by the door. And, even after everything, Touya couldn't hold back a brief smile as Kuwabara damn near materialized at his bedside. Kurama joined him at a slightly more sedate pace.

But there were still other matters to address, other questions that needed answering…on both sides, it seemed. He looked to the girl in blue first. Now, with all his senses trained on her, he could tell that his earlier guess had been correct, and then some. Not just an ice demon, but an Ice _Maiden_. Now that was something unexpected.

"I'm feeling much better." He bowed his head politely to her. "Thank you for your time."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all." She offered him a soft and gentle sort of smile. "You were really badly hurt when they brought you back, so I'm glad I was able to help." She smiled at Kuwabara. "If anything, you should thank Kazumama here. He carried you all that way."

This set Kuwabara off into a fit of nervous, awkward laughter. "Oh, come on! Don't exaggerate! That was just Yusuke makin' stuff up…"

"Actually, it wasn't," said Kurama, quite unhelpfully in Touya's opinion. The fox demon was still lingering by the door. Touya knew damn well that Kurama could see that he was going red at the very nature of the discussion. Maybe he wasn't such a good person after all. "He really did. It was quite an impressive effort."

"Hey, sh-shut up!" Kuwabara sputtered. "Come on, what does it matter? None of that's important, all that matters is…"

"…thank you."

He couldn't manage to look at Kuwabara as he said it, but the human heard him all the same, if the way he suddenly went quiet was any indication. Touya could feel three sets of eyes on him, all intent, all concerned. All _caring_.

He couldn't stand it. Not when he still didn't know.

"You've been very kind to me," he added, in a voice that betrayed him, still unable to look at any of them even when his words were addressed to all of them, and especially the human sitting by his bedside. "Far more than I deserve."

He knew what Kuwabara was going to say, and so held up a hand to stop him saying it. Then, after a few seconds of drawing the silence into himself, and drawing strength from it, he forced himself to look up and meet the other man's eyes.

"Where is Jin?"

Kuwabara faltered, and Touya briefly feared the worst. His state of mind wasn't helped at all by Kurama's next question: "You really don't remember?"

"No. Everything after a certain point is…" Touya tried, once more, to recall whatever it was they expected him to remember. But everything remained a hazy, nightmarish blur, and he shook his head with a soft growl of frustration. "…I don't remember. I'm sorry, but I can't. Please…I'm asking you to tell me. Whatever it is, it's better than not knowing. I'm sure you understand."

Silence. Silence that only lasted a few seconds, but left Touya feeling something like a scream building up in his chest, bubbling up into his throat. He actually flinched in surprise when Kuwabara broke it, with the words Touya had been praying to hear.

"He's okay, Touya."

He let out the breath he'd been holding, feeling all the tension leave his muscles. It was such a staggering thing to hear that he felt physically shaken all over again. Under normal circumstances, Touya would have tried to hide how much he was visibly affected.

But he was among friends, and he knew it, and so Touya gave in to his first impulse to just collapse back onto the bed and try to listen, and process what had happened.

"Where is he?"

Kurama and Kuwabara took turns. It didn't take long for them to tell Touya everything that had happened, starting from when they'd arrived on the scene and telling him all they'd seen, but it felt like it took years until the two fell silent.

And it felt like it took even longer until Touya found his voice again.

"…you don't know where he is."

"None of us can fly," said Kurama, apologetically. "Even if we could…I don't think he wanted us to."

"But we'll help you look for him!" Kuwabara declared fiercely, clenching his fists. He looked to Kurama and Yukina, almost pleadingly. "Right?"

Kurama nodded, and so did Yukina, and Touya smiled sadly. Kuwabara and Kurama made a good team, when they put their minds to tracking someone down. They'd found him, after all, on Kuwabara's mad little quest to bring him a peace offering in the form of some staggeringly good food.

Maybe they could do it. Either way, even if he was too tired to find the words to say so, he was happy to have their support, and their help.

They still made him rest for a little while longer, and Touya's protests soon lost any and all meaning when he fell into another doze. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically, and sensibly he knew it.

That didn't change the fact that he wanted to find Jin, and see for himself that his friend was alive, and tear apart the ones who had dared hurt him like that.


	6. Settling Down and Winding Up

Their hotel room was crowded, with the temporary addition of Chu and Rinku hanging around, and with one of the bedrooms reserved for letting Touya sleep. Shizuru, Keiko, and Botan had finally excused themselves for that very reason, as had the Masked Fighter – in fact, she had declared their little crusade idiotic from the start.

Kurama came back out into the living room, where they were all gathered – Yukina stayed inside, in case of trouble, and Kuwabara stayed with her.

"So," said Yusuke, as soon as Kurama had eased the door shut behind him. "We good?"

"He'll recover," said Kurama simply. "We managed to convince him to rest a while longer, but I don't see him staying after he wakes up. Not unless we intend to restrain him."

"Fools will be fools," commented Hiei tersely from the windowsill. "No matter how long we keep him prisoner here, that won't change."

"Eh, I can't really blame him," said Rinku, from where he was perched on that bit of sofa not currently taken up by Chu. "This isn't the greatest place to wander around by yourself."

"Did you let him know we took care of two of his problems from him, at least?" asked Chu, from where he was taking up the rest of the sofa and cleaning his fingernails with a knife.

"We didn't want to distress him any further."

"Well, he's gonna ask. Questioning type, Touya is. Bloody marvel he's lived as long where he has with that on his back."

"He can pitch a fit about his honor all he wants – at least he's alive to do it," grumbled Yusuke.

Kurama gave their captain a sympathetic smile. He knew that Yusuke's idea of honor was really very similar to a demon's, especially these particular demons, much as he'd protest otherwise. And he knew that it had been a hard call for Yusuke to make. But, in turn, Kurama knew that it had been the right one, under the circumstances and facing what they had been.

"It's fortunate that you two thought to approach us," is what he said out loud, giving Rinku and Chu a nod.

"Yeah, well, it's fortunate that Jin likes to run his mouth." Rinku smiled ruefully. "I don't think he even realized what he was saying when he mentioned that he'd lost track of Risho and Bakken."

"And when they were gone a bit long…" Chu finished. "Well, I'm not the fussy type, but the kid and I here both put our heads together and thought we'd let you know to keep an eye open."

"Good thing Shizuru stopped by." Yusuke glanced back at the door, where she'd left with the other girls a little while ago. "I know her powers can get a little hazy, but with the look on her face, I sure as hell wasn't going to be hanging around."

Kurama nodded – what might have ended at a promise to keep their eyes open, lost to their preparations for the next round, had transformed into a controlled panic when Shizuru had stopped by to speak to Kuwabara.

The woman's spiritual sense was very limited – only really manifesting itself when it came to her own well being, or her brother's – and they were in the sort of place where she and Kuwabara were more or less in constant danger. The malice and bloodlust from the Toguro brother's alone should have been enough to overload her.

But it made sense to Kurama why she'd come through this time, because he understood Risho, and he understood Bakken. They had been out for revenge – specific, targeted vengeance against specific, targeted people. While Jin and Touya might have been at the top of that list, or maybe they'd just wandered into their foe's way first, it didn't take an impossible leap of faith to think that Kuwabara might have become a target next, for singlehandedly snatching victory from the jaws of a seemingly impossible defeat.

They might not have succeeded. But it had become a personal vendetta for them to try, rather than a matter of pride or victory or advancement, and opponents in such mindsets were especially dangerous.

A knock on the door made everyone except Hiei flinch. After some glancing around and silent calculations, it was Yusuke who got to his feet, and went to answer it.

"…hey, speak of the big sis!" he said, stepping aside to let Shizuru enter.

"And I didn't even sneeze." The older Kuwabara smiled wanly at all of them. "Hey, boys. Sorry to interrupt the party, but I came for Kazuma. Where is he?"

Almost as one, they all turned and pointed back to the closed door that marked the room where Touya was sleeping. Shizuru nodded her thanks, rolled up her sleeves, and headed for it, her face set. "Idiot. If he keeps making moon-eyes like that, his face'll freeze that way."

The door opened. The door was pushed mostly closed, but it still let them hear a murmur of conversation from the other side, starting soft but growing progressively louder, until the almighty "crash" of a chair being knocked to the floor preceded Shizuru marching resolutely out of the room, dragging Kuwabara by his upper arm. Her brother was a big guy, who had proven his might against demons of all comes so far, provided they were above three feet high. He still found himself getting frogmarched out.

"Hey come on, sis, this is ridiculous! I'm fine! I don't need to take a walk, just…!" Kuwabara was protesting frantically.

"Watching people sleep is not cute! It's creepy! People are going to think you're some kind of friggin' vampire and they're going to stake you in the heart and I'm going to laugh!" Shizuru snapped back.

Kurama and Yusuke were the only ones remotely in Shizuru's way. They both promptly got out of it.

"Good boys," Shizuru said, a little out of breath but far less so than Kuwabara currently was. "I'm going to get this doofus some lunch. Be back soon."

"Take your time," Rinku called, beaming impishly at the sight of Kuwabara at his sister's mercy. He gave his former opponent a little wave, which was met with a scowl and a redoubled, albeit still futile, effort to escape. Even Hiei looked amused by the sight.

"Bring me back some fries," Yusuke called at her retreating back and her defeated brother. As though this were the most normal sight in the world – to him, to some degree, it was – he merely kicked the door shut behind them, before turning back to face the remaining little assembly.

"Hey Chu. Want to see if I can kick your ass at poker like I kicked your ass in the ring?"

Kuwabara finally stopped flailing like a hooked fish when the hotel was growing smaller and smaller behind them, as Shizuru marched him towards the arena proper and all its many concession stands. Shizuru was amazed he hadn't made them both fall down the stairs on their way to the ground…but, better late than never.

"Are you done?" she asked tersely.

"Yeah, I'm done." He sounded like a kid who'd just gotten his candy taken away, but she let go of his upper arm anyway. Good enough – he didn't have to like it, but she wanted to talk with him, and she wanted to do it far, far away from the general insanity that their lives had become.

Kuwabara, in turn, didn't really realize how tired he was until it was just him and Shizuru. He didn't understand why – it wasn't even as if he'd had to do any fighting. He'd given up a bit of his Life Energy, okay, but less than he'd given to save Yusuke, and with a lot less effort involved. He had a lot of energy to spare. Recent events had proved that without a doubt, even to Hiei. So why did he feel like he could sleep for a week?

A cheeseburger and fries sounded amazing, right now. And if Shizuru wanted to lecture him in the bargain, well, so be it. It would hardly be the first time.

* * *

_All I can say here is thank god_ for Shizuru - without her, this story probably wouldn't have ever gotten done.


	7. Lessons

They got a table. She bought them food, and set his greasy bag and damp paper cup down in front of him before taking a seat across from him with her own. She even had the decency to wait until he'd torn the paper wrapped apart and stuffed a too-big bite of cheeseburger into his mouth, because that gave her a chance to light up.

Then – probably trusting to him having to chew too long to interrupt her – Shizuru began.

"Look, Kazuma. I don't give a shit what team you bat for. I don't even give a shit that you seem to have a really specific thing for demons. I just want you to stop and think, for once in your life."

"What do you mean?" Kuwabara asked, or tried to ask. Shizuru seemed to get the gist of his words, though, and she certainly got the gist of the slightly guilty tone he couldn't quite keep out of them.

"Please. You've got a thing for the ninja in blue. The last person I saw you get that ga-ga over was Yukina."

Kuwabara forced himself to swallow, then, choking down meat and cheese and bread. "Aw, come on, sis! I do not have 'a thing' for Touya!"

"Kazuma. You were watching him sleep. You carried him back to the room, and from what Yusuke told me, you were the only one who didn't fight because you were checking up on him."

"Th-That doesn't mean anything! Hey, if I didn't go and check on him, Jin would have suffocated!"

"…and why, exactly, should that have made a difference to you?"

That brought Kuwabara up short. Not for long, though – this was a question he'd considered, over the last few days since meeting Jin and Touya properly. "They're good guys, Shizuru! They're not like Risho and Bakken and Team Masho's rat sponsor!"

Good guys should be able to depend on a helping hand when they were down on their luck…and in the hours after the fight, Touya had been alone in the world. You didn't get much more down on your luck than that. A peace offering of fast food had been the least Kuwabara could do, since he'd at least stood up for them when the entire stadium had been clamoring for their blood.

Unbidden, Touya's words that afternoon came back to him, words that Kuwabara was only just now beginning to understand. _"In fact…you remind me of someone."_

"How the hell would you know?" Shizuru asked, cutting into his thoughts. "Because from where I was watching, they looked like your typical violent dumbass demons. Mostly, they looked unconscious by the time you dragged your sorry hide back into the ring."

"Well, y-yeah, but…" Nothing for it. Especially if he wanted Shizuru to understand, and to dispel her belief that he'd turned into some kind of creepy stalker. "Look, I went and talked to them later, okay? I went looking for Touya with Kurama, and then Jin found us later. And we went all afternoon without throwing a single punch at each other!" It had actually proved an exceptionally pleasant couple of hours, barring having to convince Touya that they weren't attempting to poison him, and enduring Jin's teasing when he'd apparently picked up on exactly what Shizuru had picked up on – was he really being that obvious?

It had been nice, just he and Touya, after Kurama had fallen asleep and before Jin had found them. They'd talked as easily as kids at school. Sure, Touya had been a bit hesitant, but he'd mentioned to Kuwabara at the time that Kuwabara had been only the second human he'd ever spoken to. The first had been their team sponsor.

But he'd listened, and he'd understood, and…

Shizuru, in turn, nodded slowly, absently twirling her straw around her drink. Then, after a few seconds, she sighed heavily.

"Sometimes I forget you're still a dumbass kid."

"H-Hey, I'm not…"

"Yeah, you are. Including the bit where your hormones elope with your common sense. God, Kazuma, I always knew you were the kind of dork to buy into love at first sight. I just never thought it would be with _demons_."

"Just because they're demons, that doesn't mean they're evil! Sure, a lot of them are jerks, but what about Yukina?"

"Hey, yeah. Let's talk about Yukina." Shizuru pushed herself up in her seat enough to lean across the table and prod Kuwabara lightly in the chest with a plastic spoon. "You know. The _other_ ice demon you're swooning over."

That brought Kuwabara up short – he almost _heard _his brain screech to a halt. "…wh-what?"

Oh, god. He hadn't even thought. He hadn't even considered. Struggling with his feelings for Touya hadn't felt at all dissident with basking in Yukina's presence. And yet, when she put it like that…

Kuwabara had always been of the very definite opinion that a man who wasn't true to the woman he loved deserved, at the least, a black eye and a lecture. Well, there was no good angle at which to punch oneself in the face. But he wished there was, there and then. He felt sure that, if he asked, Shizuru would oblige.

The horror he was feeling must have shown on his face. Shizuru's stern expression softened a bit – she even smiled lightly. "Hey, relax. Your face is going to freeze that way, if you're not careful. This kind of thing is why you've got me – so I can stop you making my stupid mistakes."

"Y-Yeah." He bowed his head to her, at that, in a rare moment of sibling respect. For all that she was brash and tough and crude, he knew that Shizuru cared. After all, in moments like this, she stepped up to show it in her own quiet, cynical way. "…thanks."

"Like I said, Kazuma, you're a kid. Kids have to learn everything somewhere. It's only when you don't listen that you get to be a dumbass who gets hot coffee thrown back in his face." She stubbed out her cigarette on the tabletop, let it fall to the ground, and lit another one before continuing. "You're just at that age where your hormones completely hijack your brain. And, hey, given the lives we've lived, maybe I shouldn't be too surprised that demons ring your bell. Like I said, I don't give a shit which team you bat for. You can't control your feelings. That's okay. I get that. Nobody can – the world would probably be a way less screwed up place if we could. If you're going to get the hots for a couple of demons, nothing's going to stop you. But…"And here she frowned sternly again, jabbing a finger of her free hand at his forehead. "…I know you've got a brain in there, Kazuma. You saved a friend's job with it. And you've got to use that brain to say to yourself 'hey, yeah, I like them both, but I can't have them both, so maybe I shouldn't make promises I can't keep. And maybe I owe it to both of them to get my act together before I make any moves.' Still with me?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She sighed again, stared pensively at her cigarette, and gave it a few more pensive puffs. "Look. I can't speak for Sleeping Beauty. But I've gotten to know Yukina a bit. And I've got my own set of problems with her…" She didn't mention that all of them were named 'Hiei', even as Kuwabara looked offended on the girl's behalf. "…but I know she's a sweet kid, and I know she thinks you could move the whole damn world if you wanted to."

"…really?"

He felt the heat creeping up into his face. He felt the stirrings of the Power of Love in his chest at her words, burning like coals in a hearth, just waiting to be stoked into an inferno. Just the mention of Yukina's name made him want to stand on the table and shout his love to the heavens.

Shizuru saw him blush, and she smiled briefly at him, a flicker of genuine affection.

"Really," she said. "And I'm not saying that means you should get hitched before the next round. I'm saying that you're a good kid, Kazuma, when you use your head for more than hitting things. And if I've raised you right at all, you're the type of guy who'd want to think about that, before you set it aside. If you really want to hook up with a ninja, be my guest. Maybe he really is your Prince Charming, and the one guy in all the world who can put up with you. But your thing with Yukina? Not as one sided as you seem to have deluded yourself into thinking. And that's the kind of thing you've got to think about, when you get caught up in something like this. Okay?"

"Okay."

He felt lousy, rotten, mixed up and more confused than ever. But that, in and of itself, wasn't bad. It was like Shizuru said – it wasn't being a dumbass that was a problem, it was not copping to being a dumbass and not doing your best to stop it that made you a bad, dishonorable guy. He'd never felt like he felt for Touya or Yukina before. Maybe it was okay to feel mixed up about that, as long as he didn't let that mess with either of them.

He'd sort himself out, somehow. No matter how hard it was, or how scary.

"…thanks, sis."

She smiled, stood up a bit, and reached across the chair to give him a light flick to the head. From Shizuru, that was as good as a hug. "It's cool, Kazuma. You can pay me back by throwing the trash away – the last thing I want is to give more of those mall cop goons a reason to harass us."

Neither of them had finished eating, yet, but Kuwabara gathered up the bags and discarded wrappers and crumpled up napkins they'd already generated anyway. Just being up and moving might help his brain get working again. Shizuru simply stubbed out her cigarette, lit another, and waited patiently for him.

And Kuwabara was so wrapped up in his thoughts that when Touya found him at the trash can, he felt like his heart had stopped in his chest. When he looked up from shoving the crumpled paper through the slot, to see the Ice Shinobi suddenly standing there without word or warning, still evidently battered and worn but _standing_ all the same, Kuwabara let out a most undignified yelp and stumbled back a few steps simply from sheer surprise. "T-Touya! Jeez, don't scare me like that!"

And then he took another look. And he realized that the last time he'd seen Touya quite so _angry_, he'd been standing up to Risho. His entire body was trembling with it, his hands were balled up into fists, his eyes were narrowed almost to slits and all of that anger vibrating throughout him was focused on Kuwabara like a lens.

It was his only warning. A second later, as though he'd just been waiting to gather up his energy, Touya _moved_. But even if he'd been healed by Yukina, Kuwabara hadn't just had the tar beaten out of him – he moved more quickly, even if he only moved to dodge, and Touya's punch hit the concrete wall of the pavilion uselessly. "Hey, woah, Touya! What are you doing?"

* * *

_Basically, through Shizuru, I was able to sort out what everyone was feeling, right about now. Especially Kuwabara - poor guy's been running around like a chicken with his head cut off with all his feelings twisted up in knots._ _Shizuru's a good person with a lot of sense, and we know she loves her baby bro a lot - with a bit of time in her head, I came out of this scene feeling like everybody was back on track and I could start the wrap-up. _


	8. Measure

"You had no right to do that." Touya's voice was a growl, forced out through gritted teeth. He didn't look up at Kuwabara, and with an obvious effort of will, he didn't show any sign of the pain it must have caused him to punch the wall barehanded. To Kuwabara's great relief, however, he didn't try again.

"What?" Genuinely not understanding what could cause a friend, albeit a new one, to suddenly get so viciously _violent _with him, Kuwabara was forced to guess. "Hey, man, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up! I really wanted to be, but you don't know my sister! She wanted us to talk before things got crazy again, and…"

_…and she gave me some good advice and I think we should talk…_

"I don't care about that! I don't need anyone to wait by my bedside! Let alone a _human!_"

The words, snapped as they were, hurt – really, truly hurt, so much that Kuwabara felt himself flinch. But Touya looked up as he said them, as though daring Kuwabara to snap back at him, and it was then that Kuwabara got a good look at his eyes.

He saw the hurt, there, burning like a wildfire. The anger, the frustration, the helplessness, the mad, desperate desire to take it out on someone and only having one person in reach.

And as Kuwabara hesitated, Touya took a second shot. At the least, he seemed to have recovered his wits enough not to throw a punch. Instead, like so many petty, weak, _human_ schoolyard bullies, he merely shoved Kuwabara hard into the wall. Kuwabara was noticeably taller, but he also knew that it was amazing what you could accomplish, when you were angry enough.

He let himself get shoved.

"They were _mine_. It was my responsibility, to make them pay for what they did to us. To Jin. They made us helpless…it was only right that I make them hurt. And _you_…you took that away from me! Who gave you the right?!"

Shizuru caught Touya's wrist as he made to throw another punch, even as Kuwabara was in the middle of dodging it. Her presence surprised them both, and they both stared in outright, dumbfounded shock for a second.

Shizuru took advantage of that surprise to give Touya's arm a sharp twist, and use the leverage to shove him back. He stumbled away – he recovered quickly, but he still stumbled.

"Hands off my brother." She said it like one might ask a family member at the dinner table to pass the sugar, but she faced Touya levelly, arms folded, expression hard, and completely unafraid.

Touya focused on her, and for a second, Kuwabara saw some of that anger trained on his sister. He was already moving to step between them when, with a visible effort, Touya made himself calm down. The biting edge to his Spirit Energy dissipated, some of the vibrating tension left his muscles.

He heard Shizuru make a disgusted noise behind him as Kuwabara moved to make sure that Touya didn't up and collapse on them again in the aftermath of his rage. Kuwabara went to check anyway. Because now he understood the demon's anger…and he couldn't really entirely blame him for it.

But neither did he regret the decision he'd made, together with Yusuke. Yes, it had left a bad taste in his mouth, to have a choice like that placed in his hands, and to have used that power to agree that two beings deserved to die. He hadn't actually killed them – Hiei, Chu, and Kurama had stepped up to handle that with a breathtakingly frightening efficiency. But they'd expected he and Yusuke to speak on Jin and Touya's behalf, and so they had. Everyone had been definite about what should probably happen, but Yusuke and Kuwabara had had the deciding vote.

It meant Jin and Touya had a decent chance of living through the tournament. But it meant that they would never get closure, over what had happened to them. Never get revenge, or payback, or any chance to prove themselves stronger than the two who had taken them apart.

Kuwabara knew from painful past experience just how much that could hurt.

He couldn't blame Touya for being angry about that. But when he went to offer a steadying hand, the demon didn't push him away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered instead, avoiding Kuwabara's eyes. "That was…disgraceful of me. I don't know…what came over me. I'm sorry, Kuwabara."

"It's cool." Kuwabara forced himself to smile like nothing at all was wrong. Touya knew damn well what had come over him, just as Kuwabara did. But neither was there any point in rubbing his nose in it. "It's great to see you up and about, man. Did you walk all the way over here by yourself?"

"No. Kurama and Yukina walked with me. But…then they left, to look for Jin." Touya took a breath, and let it out. Then, with a visible effort, he made himself look up at Kuwabara. "He shouldn't be left alone. I'll understand, if you want to stay, but…I need your help to find him, Kuwabara. That's…why I came to find you."

He sounded hesitant even to ask, probably fearing that his earlier outburst had spoiled any chance of securing Kuwabara's assistance.

Well, damn it, no matter what Kuwabara's crazy mixed up feelings for Touya were, no matter what Touya's crazy mixed up feelings for Kuwabara might happen to be, Jin was a good guy who'd just been through hell and didn't deserve to be left alone. For much the same reasons as he'd first sought out Touya back then, Kuwabara aimed to see Jin safely recovered as well.

Speaking of which…

"Hold that thought."

When Touya looked confused, Kuwabara only grinned. He moved away a bit, at first, to make sure that Touya could still stand on his own two feet. Then he dashed back to Shizuru, and pulled her aside to explain his plan in a whisper.

It took some convincing, but eventually she relented, and bought more unhealthy fast food from the concession stand. Including a double order of French fries.

When Touya saw them both coming out, paper bag in hand, he at first looked surprised…and then he smiled the most beautiful smile Kuwabara had ever seen. In that moment, Touya looked so genuinely, unreservedly happy that Kuwabara smiled just to look at him.

"Well, hey," he said. "Nothing cheers you up like cheeseburgers and French Fries. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"That's right."

"And, hey, just so the smell doesn't drive us crazy…" He reached into the bag, and pulled out one box of fries to pass to Touya and one to keep to himself. "…snacks!"

He genuinely thought that Touya was going to lose it, at that – it honest-to-god looked like the demon was trying not to cry.

It had been a long day. Kuwabara understood, and he tried to make sure Shizuru didn't see as they turned away and headed off together in a random direction.

Touya mentioned he had a few ideas of where to start looking. Kuwabara agreed to let him lead the way to check those few ideas. After that, they walked in silence through the woods of Hanging Neck Island, for a while. If it wasn't companionable silence, neither was it awkward. Touya, at least, seemed to have zeroed in on eating, and Kuwabara didn't want to interrupt him. Besides, it wasn't as though they both didn't have a lot to think about.

It was Touya who finished his food first, and Kuwabara who finally broke the silence.

"I think I get it, know."

"What do you mean?"

"You told me, back when we first met. You told me I reminded you of someone. You were talkin' about Jin, weren't you?"

"Yes. I didn't know back then just how true that would turn out to be."

"He told me to keep an eye on you, you know. Have your back, make sure no one took a shot at you like that again. Before he flew off. You were out cold, so you probably don't remember."

Silence greeted this. Kuwabara let it drag on for a few seconds before he risked a glance at Touya. To his great relief, the Ice Shinobi looked thoughtful, rather than angry, even if he also looked a bit depressed all over again. But, hell, it wasn't like Touya still didn't have plenty to be depressed about.

"I don't need your help, Kuwabara."

But even he didn't sound like he believed it. And then, probably because he was too tired to keep up any pretenses, Touya added: "If I did, it would only bring more hardship, to both our lives."

"Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?"

"How do you think anything else?" Touya gestured around, at the trees, at the forest, at the island with all its battles still to come, all its enemies still to face, and all its lives already lost. "We lost – this won't be our place, and this was never our world. When the Tournament is over, we'll return to Demon World."

Kuwabara frowned – he hadn't thought of that. Really, he hadn't been thinking more than a few days ahead in general. He'd found it was a good way to stay sane, during the Tournament, not to dwell on the future too much…especially considering who was waiting for them down the line, no matter how the next round went. "You don't have to. There are a lot of demons around here in the Human World. You could probably get away with it, 'specially if you didn't go around putting mind controlling zombie bugs in people's heads."

"I won't hide." Touya shook his head, his expression set. "I've had enough, of hiding in the shadows. When I finally take my place in this world, it will be because the humans have given it to us. When they accept our right to live here."

It was a noble sentiment, and Kuwabara admired Touya for it. He pitied him for it, too, and reached across the distance between them to pat the demon sympathetically on the shoulder. "Hate to say it, Touya, but you'll probably be waiting a while."

"…I'll be patient." A smile, there and gone like lightning, flickered over Touya's face. "I'll live a very long time, if all goes well. If that's our only obstacle, I can be patient. And…if more humans really are like you, maybe I won't have to wait long."

"I think we can surprise you. And, hey…I'll definitely by rooting for you."

"Thank you, Kuwabara. If nothing else…I'd like to see you again, under more peaceful circumstances."

He sounded like he meant it. Perhaps it was this that led Kuwabara to push his luck a bit.

"But, I've been thinking…you might have a better shot at living to see the day if you give the teamwork thing a try. Just sayin'."

The words obviously hurt Touya to hear, and Kuwabara felt bad for that. But neither did he relent, and Touya didn't snap. The ice demon just shook his head, looking troubled. "It's not that simple."

"Sure it is! Hey, I'd say you're pretty good at it already! Just think…if Hiei can manage teamwork, it can't be that hard, right? Just to watch your buddy's back and keep him out of trouble?"

"But that's just _it_." Touya, for his part, was listening, even if he looked almost afraid of what he was hearing, what Kuwabara was proposing. "First Gamma, now Jin. I can't look out for anyone, Kuwabara. I can barely protect myself. Without you and the others, all of my fighting to save Jin would have been for nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, Touya!" Even Kuwabara was a little surprised by the fierceness of his own voice, but he didn't stop. Instead, temporarily overcome with the need to just make Touya _understand_, he grabbed the demon's hand and held it. "Fighting for a friend is never nothing! If you hadn't kept 'em going, they might have killed him anyway! Or you'd be dead instead, and maybe we wouldn't have been able to give him a jolt! Maybe you couldn't protect him all by yourself, but that's what friends are for! And maybe you've got to go back to Demon World, but while you're here, I've got your back! Not just because Jin asked me to, but because I don't want to see you get hurt like that again. And just you try and…"

Touya kissed him, and Kuwabara shut up. Maybe that had been his goal, maybe it hadn't. Kuwabara didn't know, and he would never ask.

All of a sudden, there were so many things that were so much easier to focus on. The tight grip of Touya's hand, the way his skin really was cooler than normal, the feeling of his lips…it was a mad, desperate, crazy sort of kiss for both of them, and it left his mind screeched to a halt and all he could do was bask and wonder and kiss Touya back with equal fervor.

And he would never quite forgive Kurama for breaking that moment.

He didn't do anything so crass as clear his throat. That just wasn't the fox demon's way. Instead, he just stepped on a branch, and the "snap" of breaking wood under feet a few yards ahead of them made Touya pull away with a gasp, whirling on his heel to face the newcomer and forming a sword of ice on his arm.

Kurama, in turn, was smiling when he approached them through the trees. He met Kuwabara's eyes over Touya's head, and Kuwabara felt himself blush. He knew then that Kurama had seen them, even if he was too tactful to say so. But if news got back to Urameshi, he would never hear the end of it.

"Kurama…" Wonder of wonders, Touya had gone a bit red, too. He hastily dismissed his weapon, and bent down to pick up the bag of food he'd dropped in the heat of the moment. "What's happened?"

"I'm glad I found you both," said Kurama lightly. He motioned off in the direction he'd come from – when Kuwabara focused on it, he thought he heard the sound of the ocean, crashing and breaking against the rocks. "We finally found him. Yukina is taking care of him now."

Touya was off and running almost before Kurama had finished speaking, accompanied by the sound of crumpling paper and fries rattling around inside the bag Kuwabara tore off after him.


	9. Lead On

_And here we are, gentle readers! The last chapter...at least of this story. I hope it lives up to your expectations!_

* * *

Jin knew a bit about Ice Maidens, at least in terms of the powers they possessed that made them notable beings even among the upper echelons of the Demon World. Their crystal tears and their healing touch…he'd never actually met one, before today, but only because they kept themselves understandably hidden away.

Now, he felt very definitely that anyone who would prize Yukina's gemstone tears over her power to heal all the many breaks and bruises that came with a life like his was an idiot beyond redemption.

They hadn't spoken much, each for their own reasons. But Yukina had been serious and thorough and careful in her work, and so had earned a good bit of Jin's affection just for that. She was about as nonthreatening as they came, and so he'd found himself able to just sit, and let her work.

Right up until the point he heard the footsteps approaching, three times as numerous as they' d been when they'd left. At that, he was up in a crouch, ready to spring, fists clenched to beat back any fresh attackers.

"It's okay, Jin!" Yukina hurriedly assured him, obviously surprised by his reaction but responding to it by getting up and going to look at who'd arrived. When she looked over her shoulder at him, she was smiling. "It looks like Kurama has found Touya and Kazuma! Isn't that wonderful?"

Jin relaxed with a heavy sigh. He straightened up, and despite his misgivings, he went to the edge of their little outcrop by the sea to see for himself.

It was Kurama, and Touya and Kuwabara were trailing after him. Jin didn't know quite how he felt about that…but he felt himself start to smile at the sight of them, especially of Touya, and thought that might be a good place to start.

"Shoulda known," he muttered. "Can't pass on by a rock without kickin' it over, can't leave well enough to itself."

He thought he should feel some annoyance at Kuwabara, for letting Touya be up and about like this, and for helping him in his foolish, pointless quest to track Jin down. For what? To check on him? To apologize to him? To tear him a new one for his weakness?

Jin knew which one he deserved, but also knew which one he was likely to get. And, selfishly, he knew which outcome he wanted.

Being alone was no fun at all. He'd realized that when even Yukina's quiet company had proven better than nothing.

His eyes met Touiya's gaze. Jin noticed that he was holding something, some kind of bag, for what he didn't know. He also noticed that Touya took a step forward, almost reflexively, when he saw Jin standing there. The ice demon only stopped to look back at Kuwabara and Kurama and say something.

After the day he'd had, Jin's ears most certainly were not pointy, and he couldn't hear it.

He could have flown down to meet his old teammate. He could have flown away, and left him there, and never been found now that he was on the mend. Jin could have done a lot of things, as Touya finished saying what he had to say and started up the path, his bearing a mixture of grim determination and something almost like excitement.

What he did was look to Yukina, and offer her a lopsided smile.

"Thanks for the fix-'er-up job, missy," he said. "Hate to ask for more, but d'you think you could give us a minute?"

* * *

"Thank you so much," said Touya, for the third time as they emerged through the trees, saw the edge of the island and the outcrop of rock looking over the water. As they saw Jin standing up and looking back at them. "I…I don't know, what will become of us now. But whatever it is, I don't want him to go through it alone."

He didn't want to bury another friend. He didn't say it, but he didn't have to. Both Kurama and Kuwabara understood.

"See?" said Kuwabara. He knew he should be feeling something other than what he was. Hurt, maybe, that Touya's attentions had all snapped back to focus on Jin so quickly, or maybe disappointed, that things were likely to still be so dangerous for the two. He didn't feel either of those things, though. He just felt the satisfaction of a job well done, of helping to see two friends reunited once more.

And also of having his point proven.

When Touya looked at him in confusion, Kuwabara only beamed. "I told you that you had this teamwork thing figured out. I'd even say you're a natural!"

The compliment took Touya by surprise…but only for a second, this time. Then he chuckled wryly, before looking up at Kuwabara with a smile. "You're too kind."

"Hey." He punctuated the words with a punch to the arm – light, but hopefully enough to get Touya's attention. "It's not messing up that makes you a dumbass, Touya. It's stepping up your game to make sure it doesn't happen again…that's what makes you a real man! Maybe Risho and Bakken nearly got you. But I bet the next time anyone tries to kick you around like that, they'll be the ones on the ground. Especially if you've got someone like Jin to watch your back…and especially if he's got you watching his! I know you'll never let something like this happen again, and you'll make anyone who tries beg for mercy!"

Truer words had never been spoken – he knew them as he said them, and sent a silent prayer of thanks to Shizuru.

And Touya listened. At first, his expression was one of bemusement. But then, something changed, and Kuwabara thought he understood. Maybe he only understood the bit about making anyone who ever tried to pick up where Risho and Bakken left off cry for mercy. If so, well…that was something.

He thought Touya might be about to kiss him again, but instead, the demon held out a hand. With some solemnity, Kuwabara shook it.

"You want us to stick around?" he asked. "Maybe walked you back?"

Touya shook his head. "We'll be all right."

This time, Kuwabara believed him.

He and Kurama waved as Touya went up the hill. Yukina, in turn, was picking her way carefully down it. When Kuwabara noticed her stumble a bit, he immediately went to help her, and Touya turned away to see his old teammate.

"Thanks again for this, guys," Kuwabara said, as he hovered around Yukina along the last few feet of rocky outcrop. "Guess you were probably looking a while."

"It was no trouble at all, Kazuma," Yukina said, smiling brightly up at him. "I was happy to help, however I could. And I'm really glad they're okay now."

"All told, I'd say we've done a good deed," said Kurama, coming over to join them. "And now, perhaps, a rest of our own."

"Yeah…" Despite himself, that sounded nice to Kuwabara. A nice nap, maybe, with the soothing sounds of Yusuke arguing with Botan over cards in the background. He smiled, before a thought occurred that made him look sternly at Kurama. "A nice rest, and then never talking about this again. Deal?"

"Why, Kuwabara, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kuwabara had no doubt that Kurama would enjoy keeping the secret even more than he'd enjoy spilling the beans. That was something, at least.

And Yukina genuinely didn't know what either of them were talking about – Kuwabara felt her puzzled gaze on him, and shook his head as though to clear it before looking down at her. Just doing that was enough to make his cheeks feel warm – however much he'd thought and puzzled and rationalized, maybe he didn't have this whole "sorting out his feelings" thing quite sorted out. In fact, just fully realizing that she was holding on to his arm for support was more than a little dizzying.

"So, uh…"

"Shall we?" Kurama asked gallantly, saving Kuwabara the trouble of remembering how to speak.

They did. It was a bit of a hike back to the hotel room, but they met nothing stupid enough to attack them on the way. Kuwabara even mustered up a couple of sentences of conversation to Yukina, a fact which proved more difficult than even he'd expected when she didn't let go of his arm even over the fairly even ground of the forest floor.

Yusuke and Chu were well into a fist fight when they got back to the room. Fortunately, the room where they'd been keeping Touya had not been occupied in his absence.

He had just enough presence of mind before he fell asleep to scoot over and make room for Kurama to pass out next to him.

* * *

"Here."

The bag was passed over. The food was cold, by now, in part because of the distance and in part because Touya had been carrying it. But it was still food, and in his opinion, it was still good food.

Jin took the bag with a puzzled expression on his face. He opened it, looked inside, and frowned. "What's this?"

"Food. I know, I couldn't believe it myself, at first."

Touya took a seat on the rock. To his relief, Jin sat down next to him, and set to work investigating the cheeseburger.

Fortunately, he soon found that it was both to his liking and not poisoned, and set to work eating with enthusiasm. Touya had suspected that he probably hadn't eaten anything in a while – over a day, at this point – and it seemed that he'd suspected correctly.

So Touya let him eat. For a few minutes, he just sat next to his friend and stared out at the ocean stretching out ahead of them, under a bright blue sky and hinting at all the unexplored world out there without letting him see a bit of it.

He didn't want to leave. But neither would he skulk around this beautiful place like a rat. One day, he would be back, and he would belong here.

They would belong here.

"You're lookin' better off than you did last time around."

Touya looked around to see that Jin had finished, and was looking back at him with an almost pensive expression.

"I'm all right," Touya said. "Yukina managed to heal most of my injuries. As she did yours', it seems."

The Wind Shinobi laughed, a little nervously, scratching his head. "Sweet girl, that one. Urameshi's team is gonna be one hell of a job to stop with her waitin' in the wings."

"Not just her." Touya shook his head. "It's them. All of them. They're…a team. Even when they're fighting alone, they're fighting as one."

"Heh. I still think we might've had a fighting shot if you'd been the boss, mate. And I'll be standin' by that."

He said the words with as much conviction as he had to Risho and Bakken, albeit with less ferocity. Even if Touya didn't understand why, Jin seemed to believe it.

"We'll never know," is what he said in reply. Then, an ugly thought struck him. Touya had to force himself to ask: "You know they're dead, don't you? Risho and Bakken."

A shadow passed over Jin's face, at this. Touya knew that, apparent calmness aside, his friend hadn't recovered quite as much as he wanted to look, if even the mention of the other two demons made him look so suddenly…_broken_.

But, like a cloud passing over the sun, Jin smiled after a second's wavering, and nodded. "Yeah, your fox told me. Eh, kind of a shame – I was lookin' forward to maybe getting a chance to snap all of Biggy's bones – but they meant well. Kind of decent of 'em to be bothered by us. Nothin' we can do about it now, right?"

It was such a very simple way of looking at a complex and ugly situation. And yet…Touya caught himself wishing that he could feel the same. Maybe one day, he would. Maybe he just needed time, and to move forward and focus on other things.

And maybe he needed to not go forward alone.

"I'm not a leader, Jin, but we were a team. And you've proven yourself so much better than they were. I'd like to stay with you, while the Tournament is going on, and when we finally go back. I know it's not the way of the Shinobi, but after what's happened here, can we really say we're Shinobi anymore?"

"Heh. Me, I was gonna go and tell 'em to shove it second I was back there." Jin seemed to brighten just at the thought. "We could go and tell 'em together, you and me. After that, well, it's a big world and we're pretty strong. I think we could have some fun."

"Having a friend like you...I think it would."

The word took Jin visibly by surprise. Touya couldn't blame him – friendship wasn't a word that was used lightly, especially among the Shinobi. Friendship was a liability, something that could make you hesitate when an ally inevitably became an enemy. Friendship could get you killed.

But they'd failed in their assignment, and their client was dead. They'd soon be known associates of the Spirit Detective, and if not responsible, than at least involved in the deaths of two other Shinobi. No, there would be no going back. Only going forward, together.

Maybe it wouldn't last. But maybe it would.

And when he saw that Touya was serious, the wind demon laughed, unreserved and happy. And then, he took Touya by surprise by leaning forward enough to wrap the ice demon up in a tight hug.

Touya had never been hugged before – Jin had carried him, once, when pretending to fly off with him. But this was different, he knew that right away. He could feel the affection and the warmth, and even if it was different, and a little scary to feel…it was nice, and it decided him.

They were friends. They would stay together, as long as they could, no matter what the universe and all their many enemies decided to do about it. They would fight by one another's side, and maybe they wouldn't always win. Maybe, one day, they would be brought down, and no one would be around to save them.

But they could at least give their enemies hell together.

When they finally pulled apart, when they finally stood up again, it was like being reborn. Jin was like his old self – grinning, chatting, walking like he was just one misstep away from taking to the sky. And Touya walked beside him, feeling decided and certain. Most of all, feeling content, feeling like he'd yet again found a path in life. However long it was, he felt certain that, at the end, he would find the light.

Jin already seemed to have found it. Maybe he could show Touya the way.

"Let's go back. Chu and Rinku are probably waiting."

"Right! Then we can take a fly over to the new stadium – new round should be startin' soon, and the sooner we get over, the sooner we can beat some heads in for good seats!"


End file.
